The Nova Scotia film industry is undergoing a cultural shift, with more women telling their stories and getting behind the camera.

With her films featured at the Atlantic International Film Festival and receiving nationwide acclaim, Koumbie has been making her mark in Halifax for years.

“Halifax is changing, and there are women who have been working for this for a long time, but I feel like the spotlight kind of turned recently,” said Koumbie.

“There are huge talks and shifts regarding women and diversity behind the camera.”

The director of LGBTQ+ tale Hustle & Heart (winner of 2016’s Best Atlantic Short award at the Halifax festival) describes her experiences as a young, female and black actress and filmmaker.

“As an actor, I had never seen a female director. On Mr. D (a CBC show she recurs in) there was a female co-director, but that was it,” she said.

“Until I began directing my own work, it wasn’t something I even thought about or questioned.”

It wasn’t until she was in Toronto explaining her vision to a director for a short film she wrote that she was told she should direct. Now she tries to ensure young filmmakers of her gender and colour know they can anchor films on their own. With her work, that of Heather Young, and Ashley McKenzie’s run with her crowd- and festival-favourite film Werewolf, she sees a way to depict important issues on screen.

“Young people need to be able to identify with characters on screen, and having women and people of colour who look like them needs to happen,” she said.

She looks to directors like Ryan Coogler, whose Black Panther just took Hollywood by storm, and Ava Duvernay, a woman of colour helming Disney tentpole A Wrinkle In Time, and sees progress in Hollywood.

Another Halifax-based film industry professional feels exactly the same way.

“Everyone knows that women’s stories on film are every bit as important as men’s, and we need diverse stories,” says Kimberlee McTaggart, Women in Film & Television — Atlantic chair.

“Films like Hidden Figures come out, and people went in droves. People in the audience want to see this, and they want these stories to be authentic.”

She said economics and the #MeToo movement have spurred advancement forward.

“There’s never a better time to be a female filmmaker right now. We all felt the disparity, and it became apparent last year in Canada. But when Hollywood feels it, it spreads,” she said.

In Hollywood, McTaggert says $100-million budgeted films with female directors have a minute percentage, but indie films have a much larger percentage of women helmers.

“The rise in women directors is due to empowerment, and everyone from Nova Scotia to Hollywood sees the need for gender parity,” she said.

“There are more opportunities, and we need diversity on screen. Seeing someone like Koumbie tell stories from female and black perspectives is so worthwhile.”

Nova Scotia Community College reports that their Screen Arts program in Dartmouth had 19 graduates of their program in 2017. Of those 19, seven of them identified as female. Graduate Emily Fricker has seen success first-hand since graduating.

Her short documentary, Neils Harbour: A Day Down Home in November, saw her take her Nova Scotia roots to a film festival in Los Angeles. The story of a small fishing village in Cape Breton has reached so many, and was also a finalist for the From Away film competition for Atlantic Canadian post-secondary students.

“I still can’t believe I was in L.A., and it was amazing to bring a story of my hometown there. I’m still baffled by it,” said 24-year-old Fricker.

She said teachers have told her fewer girls were on campus before her May 2017 graduating class. She’s happy more women and diverse groups are getting involved in film, and hopes they keep their talents in the province.

“I think it’s important to stay here — we have our own stories to tell and they’re unique,” she said. “That diversity in your crew and the stories you’re telling is huge, and people need to relate. The same men don’t relate to everyone.”

The plan for Fricker is to stay put in Nova Scotia.

“My family is here, so it would be ideal. Things are up in the air. I’m still getting my name out there but I’m doing my own independent work,” she said.